Record & Manifesto

Over the last five years, Paul has built on Equity’s equality legacy with committees and activists to embed it at the heart of our governance and industrial agendas.

Paul has overseen the creation of a Women’s Councillor, and the establishment of the Student Deputies Committee to help the Young Members Committee focus this remit on young workers. On election, he immediately set in place the election of the then vacant Race Equality Committee, with an apology to its former members for the handling of events which led to their resignation. He’s reformed Equity’s disciplinary processes to remove the adversarial nature of complaints which disadvantaged under-represented members subject to abuse in a union setting.

Since Paul became General Secretary, the average age of Equity’s membership as has fallen, and representation on Council for under-represented artists of all characteristics has risen. Equalities monitoring of all areas of the union’s democratic activity is showing our union become more like the industry we represent, and fight to have.

We’ve rallied against Tommy Robinson, and in support of trans rights. We have a permanent place at UK Black Pride, and took disabled artists concerns to the UN over the government’s stripping back of benefits. From access riders to enhancing statutory rights for artists who face discrimination in hair and makeup, Equity has stepped up since 2020.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Equalities issues at the heart of every pay claim: whether it’s hair and makeup, access riders, or industry standard monitoring, these issues should be at the heart of what we are bargaining for.
• Proper training: training for staff and activists on how to support an equalities organising agenda in their workplaces, branches, committees, and communities
• To be leading the union response to the far right: we need to protect LGBTQ+ artists at work by being a physical barrier to protect drag artist and others from assaults on their work places. We must counter disinformation about migrants, and platform the incredible work of Equity’s migrant worker members.
• To fight for true freedom of expression: Freedom of expression must be bounded by dignity at work for our members. From transphobia and body shaming, to reactionary attitudes to incidental casting; from antisemitic characterisations to the under-employment of disabled artists; Equity will not be silent in the face of a growing movement to make ‘freedom of speech’ a ‘freedom to abuse’.

Since 2020, Equity has begun a radical shift in our approach to TV and streaming negotiations. Our ground breaking claim was determined by surveying those who’ve worked on the agreements, and no settlement will be reached without a ballot of those who’ve worked on our terms over the last three years. Our claim is in negotiation right now and proposes a significant overhaul of our terms and conditions. Alongside important changes to access riders, embedding the Green Rider, enhanced rights to equal treatment in hair & makeup, there are five core red lines. Casting, Articificial Intelligence, ending excessive Special Stips, significant royalty reform, and basic pay must be addressed in any new agreement.

Paul has almost doubled the staff responsible for TV and streaming in the recorded Media Department, and created a dedicated section responsible for organising and advice. In the first few months of operation, the Section has held producers accountable with a new approach – stopping productions where we find terms below our collective agreements. We’ve won every time.

Soaps, from Holby City in South West England, to River City in Scotland, and everywhere in between, is under attack. Paul has championed a new Continuing Drama Deputies Committee, ensured a dedicated official for BBC and ITV, and put extra industrial resource into the two northern regions, Midlands, and South West to support that organising.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Industrial action ready: For the first time in a generation, Equity has prepared ourselves in TV, streaming, and film for the possibility of industrial action if we don’t get the groundbreaking agreement we need. Equity’s new approach has ensured this, and we must take it through to the end of these tough negotiations
• A new approach to bad bosses: When we see offers and special stips which undermine our agreements, it’s not just a personal contractual issue. Undermining our agreements affects every Equity member, and from the conclusion of current negotiations, every offer made which tries to vary the collective agreement, will be treated as a matter of dispute.
• Continuing drama: Continuing drama is an essential part of Equity members’ terms and conditions ecosystem. Careers are started, sustained, and enhanced by this dependable work. Whilst TV habits change, letting lazy thinking close these workplaces, with no viable replacements, is not an option. Proper industrial research to ensure that soaps are sustained, and where closed the money is used for drama on quality terms and conditions is one of the biggest challenges faced by Equity in the next five years.
• Back the BBC: We need charter renewal the works for the workforce. We cannot see licence fee payers outside of London get short changed – and Equity members lose good jobs in the nations and regions. We have to see the licence fee spent proportionately outside of London, and proportionately on the work Equity members do.
• Supporting supporting artists: Equity’s lowest paid section of the membership are walk on and supporting artists. Whilst our groundbreaking claim seeks to boost walk on pay and allowances, bad practice and late payments from agents who ignore our agreements are a blight on the industry. With our new approach to enforcement, and by growing our agents support resourcing, Paul will support members to fight back against this systemic abuse.

British film is one of the UK’s biggest exports, and Equity members should be treated as the workforce that creates that wealth. Since 2020 we won the argument over COVID insurance for British productions, and then fought and succeeded to include older artists in its coverage.

Our largest wins in contract enforcement are in film, with our Distribution service dealing daily with American producers and their UK subsidiaries. This work has grown since 2020, and Equity’s direct relationships with producers and SAG-AFTRA have never been stronger.

Film is also riven with low pay and exploitation around independent and student productions. A new planned post will raise raise this profile within equity, enhance our advice, and take on no and low pay like never before.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Building toward one agreement: Production, distribution, and broadcast of film and TV series are becoming increasingly similar due to the disruption of the streamers. Every Equity negotiation should build toward a single agreement for TV and film to close the loopholes which allow for under payment and
• Industrial action ready: Like in TV and with the streamers, for too long special stips and dodgy contracts have been treated solely as individual, rather than collective issues. In both our current negotiations, and on every job, Equity should be ready to empower members to take collective action to take the pressure off individual members faced with unreasonable contracts.
• A new low and no pay campaign: By recruiting a new, additional, official for film we can boost our work against no and low pay. From small budgets to student films, it cannot be right that members are denied statutory rights and reasonable protections in any place of work. The next five years will see a profile campaign to hit at the heart of this exploitation.
• Using the data: Our distribution service data on royalties has informed our radical claim for a new structure for films which are a financial success. These next five years needs to see that data used for both enforcement and to keep a new system of deciding payments modern and fair.

In 2020, Paul pledged a dedicated official for audio, and it was the first new industrial post created. Since then, we’ve visited more audio workplaces than ever, reached our first video-games agreement, and hit back on the tech industry. Our audio committee is more dynamic than ever, with growing networks supporting tehir work at the grassroots.

Voice over artists are the front line when it comes to the attack from Artificial Intelligence. Our “Stop AI Stealing the Show” campaign was the first of any union, and it’s ensured our seat at the table with both Tory and Labour governments when it comes to the rights of the creative workforce.

With declining terms and conditions in audiobooks, and billions of pounds of de facto subsidy due to be pumped into the video-games industry, building on the foundations of the last five years. For the first time, we have direct relations with producers of audiobooks and publishers, who are taking tentative steps to engage with the union.

For many artists working in home studios and on short contracts, Equity’s insurances are a valuable lifeline. The expansion of scope, and doubling of the awards, on the accident and injury insurance has been a vital part of our union’s protection of audiobook workers.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• A major video-games campaign: We need to deliver a collective agreement across the video-games sector. A campaign including holding the Labour government accountable for their ‘Fair Work’ agenda, as well as direct action against the most exploitative video-games producers is key.
• Charting the future of audiobooks: Since the pandemic explosion of audio work, terms in audiobooks are under threat. We need deeper research into mapping where terms and conditions are headed, alongside the profits of big producers. Groundbreaking research will help us deliver the pressure necessary to win a collective agreement.
• Artificial Intelligence Fightback: We can’t turn AI off. It’s a reality of our industry in the 21^st But we can ensure that this new technology is putting money in the pockets of our members, not just the producers’ bottom line. Using data protection rights, copyright, and our collective agreements, we will start a campaign to expose the scale of theft which has already taken place.
• Audio Drama: Without audio drama, we lose not only a key source of income, but the foundation of the UK’s audio industry is built. The threat of further cuts at the BBC needs to be met with an industrial and political campaign to increase, not decrease audio drama production.

In 2020, Paul pledged to fight for a new agreement to replace that which we lost in the Great Commercials Dispute. In 2024, for the first time in a generation, the advertisers sat at the negotiating table. We may not yet have an agreement, but through industrial, legal, and policy pressure, we’re closer than at any time since we lost our agreement.

We have new networks of commercials activists, groundbreaking industry analysis to inform industry standards on social media and internet advertising for the first time, and the beginning of regular staff visits to commercial workplaces.

Paul’s first term has seen the beginnings of a new commercials landscape, but it’s not enough, and the next five years are critical.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• To fight to the end in the current commercials negotiations: The bosses are back at the table for the first time in a generation. Equity will not leave that table without a deal.
• To ensure we adequately cover social media and internet advertising: Whether it be clips of your work from elsewhere, AI manipulating your voice, or a full commercial that’s recorded with a global internet reach, our agreements must support every artist who’s work is being used by some of the wealthiest companies in the world
• Solid member activism: Nothing about you, without you. Ballots on the deals we do, deps across the sector, training for activists, and a high profile, functioning network of members. We owe it to our members, after decades of confusion in the sector, and the sacrifices of the Great Commercials Dispute, to have a members-led commercial structure.

In 2017, Equity took the distribution of royalties from our agreements in-house. During Paul’s tenure as General Secretary, we have had the two best regular years of distribution and surpassed the £100million milestone. We have uploaded tens of thousands of cast lists, and used new technologies to grow the reach of our audits. Groundbreaking work on one title has given the union new learning about how to enforce your rights when work is sold on – and the data we have has informed a radical new approach to royalty distribution in our film and TV negotiations.

Paul has pushed for a policy of no deductions from your royalties – which has now been delivered. The Distribution Service is part of your subscriptions, Equity no longer takes a penny off of any payment we receive.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• More in-house distribution: When Equity distributes, Equity can better enforce. That’s the lesson we’ve learned since 2017. We need to grow our distribution work to take on as much as possible from the bosses.
• Spreading the good news: Non-members benefit from Equity distributions. Whilst the majority of non-members are artists who have transitioned or retired, it’s time we used the distribution service to actively recruit. Those monies come from our agreements, not agents, the bosses, or the law. We have to shout louder, and bring non members on board with our work
• Using the data: Our claims in film, TV, and streaming are an amalgam of the best systems in the world for royalties (Canada, the UK, and the USA). We only know what to claim for because of the work of our distribution service. However, a more developed approach to data an da new royalty system would deliver better deals for members. Only Paul has the experience to work with out incredible distributions team to deliver this project which has been planned over the his first term, and will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to deliver.

No group of Equity members are more regularly at risk of harm than the stunt community. Their pay and terms and conditions should reflect that. Since 2020, we’ve radically changed our tone and approach to bosses who abuse stunt members. Our PACT claim centres the needs of stunt artists, and seeks to dramatically close the gap between UK and US terms and conditions – whilst taking best practice from Canada and other countries too. Recognising the threat posed by AI to stunt members is crucial, which is why we need to see their pay rise, as technology threatens the number of work opportunities at scale.

Where our stunt members have their terms undermined, we’ve used the solidarity of the stunt community to fight back directly. Since Paul was elected, for the first time in a generation, we have seen work stop in disputes over payments – and Equity has won. It’s stunt members in the room with the bosses arguing for better treatment on their agreements, which was a key pledge from Paul in 2020. No deal about you, without you, is critical to deliver.

Over the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Industrial action ready: In both our current negotiations, and on every job, we have to leverage the stunt community’s solidarity to fight back when producers pull a fast one. Equity isn’t a regulator, it’s a union of members, and we need to be there to give voice to stunt artists when they need us.
• Working toward one agreement: With terms and conditions differing between TV and film, stunt artists are disproportionately affected by the disruption caused by streaming. Gaps in treatment need to be closed, which starts with our claim this year.
• International standards, global solidarity: Our latest claim reflects best practice from across the world in royalty provision. We’ll only win it if know that stunt artists from around the world stand with us, support action we take, and reject terms which are substandard. We need to grow our global stunt connexions to make sure that British terms and conditions are world leading.
• Equality for all: The experiences of women in stunt work continue to be a stain on the industry as does a lack of work for Black artists and other under-represented groups. The stunt community recognises this, and we have to be united in delivering dignity and diversity for all through fair recruitment practices, and open access to training and opportunities. The time has come for the workforce to stand together and make those demands for each other, whatever their background.

From representing and negotiating for the creative team, to leading a union for the whole artistic workforce in theatre, Paul has been committed to ensuring Equity looks and feels like the union for directors and designers. Our working director membership grew significantly in 2025, and thanks to the hard work of a newly empowered committee, designer member numbers are at a record high too.

Paul stood by his pledges in 2020: he’s re-established dedicated councillors for directors and designers, and ensured that the Directors and Designers Committee has authority to negotiate and settle their own claims, rather than referring to other bodies dominated by actor members.

Our committees have worked hard these last five years to create new resources for the membership on their terms, conditions, and rights, and Equity’s new website has a dedicated place for our director and designer members rich in information and support.

Our insurance packages are vital for directors and designers working as truly freelance – Paul has steered a new set of insurances which double the accident and injury awards, and provide standard access to all members irrespective of profession to all insurances for the first time. Negotiations for an Equity professional indemnity insurance are underway, after years of lobbying by creative team activists.

We can’t undo decades of disorganisation in one go, but Paul has stood with an supported Equity’s director and designer activists to make good progress since 2020.

Over the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Additional staffing: Current staff support for directors and designers has been a key part of enhancing Equity’s muscle and support for the creative team. However, we need to go further – a dedicated organiser to support the negotiations and servicing of industrial officials with UK wide responsibility will transform the support we give our members.
• A renewed education programme: Our new website resources are a key part of ensuring directors and designers have a home in Equity. However, knowledge about the agreements which cover the majority of working designers and directors is low, and this is hampering the ability of our members to protect themselves, especially on copyright. Peer support, education, and skills workshops will be a critical
• Relentless renegotiations: Our Directors and Designers Committee have delivered tough and transformative change since 2020 on the key terms and conditions on our agreements. However, each claim needs to be more ambitious than the last, and led by members in the workplace and seeking work. Our networks should be empowered to support writing the claims they need, and supported to take action to achieve a transformation in pay and terms.

Paul’s record in theatres dates back over a decade. During his time as an organiser, pay on the commercial, subsidised, and independent theatre outstripped inflation, with hours of work falling, and overtime rising. The last five years, following the pandemic, funding pressures and sky-rocketing inflation has meant Equity has had to fight harder than ever. The Stand Up for 17 campaign in London’s West End was a defining moment for our union – delivering an above 17% pay rise in minimum pay over the life of the agreement. However, it’s biggest success has been by pushing up overall pay for artists of every income bracket – boosting dance captain, swing and other additional payments by up to 40%. The campaign showed what could be do when the union is united to credibly threaten strike action – with over 90% of members voting for the eventual deal on a record turnout.

Inflation-busting pay rises in subsistence and touring allowance when Paul was the organiser responsible hasn’t been enough to deliver dignity in digs. Our Dignity in Digs Campaign, led by a newly organised group of deputies, has not only delivered an agreed standard, but also proves that it does not exist. In Paul’s first time, the digs system was ended in small-scale independent theatre, and for artists travelling to Ireland.

Equity has been fighting for public funding across the UK – from Scotland to Suffolk – and won key concessions with every campaign. At every turn we have been clear: arguments to keep pay down to keep employment up are a false dichotomy. If our working class members can’t afford to take the work, it’s as good as having no work at all.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Pay restoration campaigns: Record inflation has eroded the wins we made across commercial and subsidised theatre since 2010. We need pay to exceed its highest real terms value from the last decade, with no compromises on working hours or responsibilities.
• Five day rehearsal weeks: We have made the case in subsidised theatre for a 5 day rehearsal week, with no loss in pay. With decreasing lengths of runs, Equity should push for a modern working week in rehearsals.
• Death to the digs system: For five years, against extraordinary levels of inflation and the hazards of COVID, Equity has shown the digs system is unfit for the 21^st Our wins include paid for accommodation for tours in Ireland and all small scale theatre – but a new modern system of accommodation must be our aim before 2030.
• Funding fightback: Equity must ensure that the voice of the workforce is at the heart of arts council reform in all four nations. We need an end to the National Portfolio in England, and the return of the regularly funded system. Local authorities need to know the value of theatre to local economies -a dn its ability to boost a flagging economy.
• Win in the West End: It is clear that the West End is beating Broadway in sales, so we need to deliver world class terms and conditions too. There has never been a stronger moment to make that case, and deliver a modern set of terms and conditions – building on Stand up for 17, which has protected pay from record inflation, now is the time for a real terms win, built on a credible threat of industrial action.

Paul worked as staff secretary of the Stage Management Committee when they delivered the buyout calculator, which supported members in making claims for well over a quarter of a million pounds in unpaid overtime in its first year of operation. Over the last five years, we’ve broken down buyouts like never before, thanks to a Stage Management Committee and deps who are radically committed to ending buyout abuses.

That committee has been newly empowered by the committee reforms Paul reposed, which means it now has co-equal status with the actors committees which it works with. Stage management negotiating, organising, and settling the agreements and claims that affect them at work.

Stage management work on Equity’s minima more often than performers, and from restoring ASM parity in subsidised theatre in 2017 to building the Stand Up for 17 campaign as General Secretary, Paul has worked for solid progress on pay. We know hours and overwork are the biggest issues for stage management, and improving overtime rates, whilst defending and reducing hours has been central to Paul’s support for stage management. Whether it be delivering the first ever stage management royalty deal for broadcast at the National Theatre, or defending the right to royalties on cast albums, Paul has stood with stage management for almost 15 years.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Pay restoration campaigns: Record inflation has eroded the wins we made across commercial and subsidised theatre since 2010. We need pay to exceed its highest real terms value from the last decade, with no compromises on working hours or responsibilities.
• Differentials campaigns in every sector of theatre: Fighting back against extra duties is hampered by small scale theatre not having differentials and stage management grades embedded in our agreements. With independent theatre the only sector where stage management pay has outstripped inflation this last decade, it’s time for differentials to support careers in this vital part of the industry.
• A new approach to additional duties: Extra resourcing of staff, and better defined agreements, means we will be n a better place to defend stage management against pressure to take on BECTU duties. We need an industrial response to support those who refuse to take on extra jobs at every level, and revising union advice to resist any duties creep.
• Death to the digs system: For five years, against extraordinary levels of inflation and the hazards of COVID, Equity has shown the digs system is unfit for the 21^st Our wins include paid for accommodation for tours in Ireland and all small scale theatre – but a new modern system of accommodation must be our aim before 2030.
• Recruitment reform: Equity has never campaigned about stage management recruitment in the same way as casting for performers. It’s time that changed – we won’t see improved diversity in stage management without more open recruitment. From best practice guides as to how to recruit, through to challenging access for individuals, we need renewed emphasis on access to work for all.

Paul pledged additional staff for dance in 2020 and he delivered it. Whether it be our headline campaign at Phoenix Dance to stop redundancies via direct action from our conference, or protecting standing companies from ongoing austerity, dance has a greater profile in our union as a result.

We’ve brought together the most prolific producers in contemporary dance to get them onto suitable agreements, and seen unionisation grow since Paul’s election. Despite the struggles faced with funding, the agreement which underpins arts council funding in all four nations has kept pace with inflation. Dance specific terms, especially around rest and co-ownership on our agreements have been forefront of our work.

The Dance Committee has been empowered to negotiate, consult, and settle relevant agreements, and a new Choreographers & Movement Directors Network has grown from grassroots members committed to our increasing visibility in dance.

In TV and film, our claims are for new, enhanced dancer terms and conditions, and specific provisions for choreographers for the first time. Equity has to be present for dance artists as we are for actors – at every step of their working lives.

A massive step for dancers was to expand our insurance package; doubling the payouts for accident and injury and expanding the scope is a key benefit for freelance dance artists. However, we

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• To build our dance networks: With flourishing dancer-led communities in the Midlands, North East England, the South West, and elsewhere, we need to empower members in those networks to recruit, campaign, and win for dance artists across the UK
• To embed our dance activism: Our dance activists have to be welcome in our branches, equality committees, and elsewhere. Dance artists targeted training and support will do that, and ensure members are best placed to built the union in their workplaces.
• To grow our agreements: In all four UK nations public funding is only given to companies which use contracts equivalent to union agreements – but enforcement is patchy at best. We need to build on this guidance and actually deliver unionised workplaces so Equity can enforce the minimum terms. By 2030 we should aim to ensure that no dance company is
• Restarting commercial dance organising: since the pandemic, organising in commercial dance has slowed. Using the groundbreaking negotiations in TV and film for new dancer terms and conditions as a starting point, we should aim to restart the commercial dance network and take an industrial approach to dealing with low pay, poor agents, and dangerous contracts.

In 2020, Paul pledged additional staff resource for singers – and he delivered. Our industrial action in opera – both at the English National Opera and the Welsh National Opera has made global headlines and started a nationwide conversation about its future.

We’ve started a liturgical signers network to tackle late payment, low pay, and precarious working in places of worship. We’ve worked with the Musicians’ Union to unite campaigning wherever singers work with orchestras, and we’re paying out

As freelancers, singers depend on Equity’s insurance support: by expanding the package, doubling the accident & injury payouts, and expanding their scope, under Paul’s leadership, Equity is increasingly fighting for singers, whatever their discipline.

Over 20% of Equity’s members are variety artists, with many more having worked as freelance entertainers to support their portfolio careers. Matching their commitment with a union that looks, feels, and sounds like their concerns at work is a vital part of Paul’s vision.

Since 2020, we’ve seen the variety membership steadily grow. We’ve expanded the insurance packages which they rely on – defending the £10million of public liability insurance in the face of rampant inflation, and doubling the payouts and broadening the cope of the accident and injury insurance. For the first time, face painters have henna included in their public liability coverage; the accident and injury insurance now applies to any activist connected to your work – from rehearsals, and classes, to the gym and the commute. Artists working with fire have seen the top up insurances gone, with Equity now covering those costs as part of the membership.

We’ve been a visible ally to drag artists, with our Drag Network leading the charge to protect artists at work from far right protestors, and are now leading a drive to unionise Manchester’s Canal Street with fortnightly leafletting and organising. Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club is a campaign with Equity and our members at the forefront, working with audiences to protect a vital queer space, and a key workplace for our members.

Paul’s started to build our variety capacity as a union too – with a dedicated organiser appointed to work alongside the variety official with UK responsibility. But with extra staff in the nations and regions, all variety members are benefitting from additional Equity resource, wherever they live.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• To build at least one variety and entertainers network in every nation and region: Variety is spread across the UK, but often there are clusters of entertainers around key locations. Whether it be working on holiday camps, tribute acts in pubs and clubs, care home entertainers, drag artists, comedians, or touring circuses, Paul will back the creation of local networks, based around professions to match the success of our UK-wide networks.
• To establish a Variety Section: in 2020, Paul promised more staffing for variety, and he’s delivered. But 20% of our membership deserve proportionate staffing resource. Establishing a Variety Section by 2030, as we have in TV and Film is a key way to deliver the support and co-ordination our variety members deserve.
• To maintain and improve our insurances: Paul led an overhaul of Equity’s insurances, which are essential to variety artists being able to work. The increase in payouts for accident and injury has risen from £150 a week to £300, and now covers you for any activity related to your profession, not just under contract. We’ve also given all members access to all insurances as part of their standard membership subscription. That’s the first improvement since 2013, but we can’t stop there. The real value of those insurances must be maintained by 2030, and through listening to members we need to ensure the package speaks to the current working lives of variety artists and entertainers.

Paul’s first term has seen a radical shift in student membership. He’s championed students having full democratic rights – this is the first General Secretary election where they have the right to nominate, and vote for, candidates. Education & training membership is open to all members, as often as they are eligible – not just once in their career. Finally we recognise that students are vulnerable as workers, especially to low pay and poor workplace culture, so as of 2024, students have access to the same insurances, organising, and support as any other member of our union. If you join Equity for the first time as a student, there’s no joining fee, making us as accessible as possible to the next generation.

Paul’s appointed dedicated staff for students for the first time, and created a Student Deputies Committee, with the right to pass motions and send conference reps. It was those members who used these mechanisms to start our campaign against drama school audition fees, organising student members across campuses.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• To win on a ban to drama school audition fees: The number simply don’t add up as to why institutions charge a fee to even consider access. We’ve had good coverage so far, but through direct action and building coalitions we can end this practice for good.
• To fight course closure: From Bristol to Liverpool and across the UK, higher education in the arts is under threat. These are workplaces for artists who teach and train, and a vital part of sustaining our industry. Working with activists, branches, and student members, we’ll be on the picket lines to fight back against austerity and short-termism.
• To diversify our student membership: Equity should have artists in education or training across all the professions we represent. We should ensure that we’re recognising vocational training to increase working class access to their union.
• To build lifelong activists: Equity isn’t organising students as students, but students as the workforce of tomorrow (and often of today). We should be ensuring that the majority of those leaving education and training and entering the workplace are Equity members, and a core are ready to step up to be deputies, committee members, and branch activists. Through our own training, and focussed campaigns we can expand and diversify Equity’s activist base.

In 2020 Equity had 3 offices outside of London, and ten industrial staff serving the nations and regions. By the end of 2025 we will have 6 offices and thirteen industrial staff, with a commitment to grow our organising teams in Northern Ireland and South West England. For the first time, the two Northern regions have councillors of their own, and Northern Ireland, Scotland, the South West, and Wales have their own dedicated staff. Our Birmingham and Manchester offices are state of the art for the hybrid age, Cardiff is being expanded and refreshed, and our new Bristol office will be of the same standard.

From 21 branches in 2023, we have 26 branches in 2025. The branch structure in 2020 covered only 30% of members, now every Equity member has a branch which covers them.

The three nations have been treated as such – with dedicated staff teams for the first time, and record membership in all three. Collective agreements have increased more than threefold in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and Wales. Record membership too in each of the English regions, and some of our most dynamic and high profile industrial campaigns have been fighting for members around the UK. The Oldham Coliseum, Phoenix Dance, the Welsh National Opera, funding campaigns in Scotland and Suffolk, Bristol and Birmingham. Whether it be fights for freedom of expression at the Royal Exchange, to protect terms with the English National Opera relocation, or our postcard campaign against funding cuts in Northern Ireland, Equity’s work in Paul’s first term has treated the nations and regions as critically as London.

This work belongs to our activists and members who live and work in the nations and regions, but Paul has built the foundations to make that work easier, and in some cases possible. It’s a commitment he’ll build on if re-elected.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• To deliver modern offices in Belfast and Glasgow: Our Glasgow office was once our most modern and well equipped, but it’s now fallen behind. Our temporary arrangements in Belfast have served us well, but we deserve a high quality, permanent home. Paul will deliver the facilities we need to build a connected union.
• To build at least one variety and entertainers network in every nation and region: Variety is spread across the UK, but often there are clusters of entertainers around key locations. Whether it be working on holiday camps, tribute acts in pubs and clubs, care home entertainers, drag artists, comedians, or touring circuses, Paul will back the creation of local networks, based around professions to match the success of our UK-wide networks.
• To deliver targeted campaigns on funding and cuts: Our groundbreaking arts funding tracker put austerity in our industry on the map in the General Election. We need that tool for critical devolved and local authorities. We need laser-like focus on getting wins in the Arts Council Review and BBC Charter renewal which materially benefit our members in the nations and regions.
• To build grassroots campaigns against venue closure: From Bethnal Green to Oldham, every type of venue is under threat. Whether it be the cost of fuel, greedy developers, government short-termism or even structural neglect, Equity needs an emergency fighting fund to support and build campaigns which will save critical workplaces.
• To give local campaigns national support: Paul created a staff post dedicated to giving mobile resource on key campaigns in his first term. Our conference has highlighted local issues from the loss of Doctors in Birmingham, to threats against dancers in Leeds. Building on a 2024 conference motion from Scotland to have a national day of action, uniting members across the UK with current issues in Scotland we need to put the weight of the whole union behind campaigns in every nation and region.

The election of a new government this year presents significant opportunities, and challenges for Equity. Paul has given the union the resource to meet that task, with a new Policy and Public Affairs Section. From negotiating the Tory Party down from damaging AI proposals, to having Labour designate the Creative Industries as a key economic area with an industrial strategy, Equity is being heard in Westminster.

The 2024 General Election saw our groundbreaking arts tracker used thousands of times, by Equity members holding candidates from every party accountable for the effects of austerity in their area. Our tool showed every penny lost in every part of the country, and made the case for growth, meaning new MPs started with an email from Equity at the top of their to-do list.

In Northern Ireland, the Communities Minister was confronted with thousands of postcards from artists and audiences about the value of the arts, in Scotland the administration has been forced into multiple u-turns on cutting support for Creative Scotland and freelancers.

Equity is a union which deserves to be respected at every level of government. We’re one of the strongest unions, and it’s time we were treated as such.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Devolved and local authorities: Equity’s networks in Westminster are well respected, but we need groups in the legislatures of the devolved nations, as well as of local councillors, across the UK. It’s the best way to fight cuts, grow our support, and raise our voice with the biggest arts funders.
• Combatting censorship: Our Freedom of Information request to Arts Council England revealed unacceptable conversations between arms-length bureaucrats and an elected government. Pressure to silence artists and organisations is growing, and only the workforce through their unions can effectively fight back and speak out.
• Fighting charges for casting directories: Equity’s class action in the High Court against Spotlight is part of our demand that they open their books and show they’re charging reasonable rates. But Spotlight can only charge at all because of a legal carve out for our industries. The Labour government must close this carveout, and carefully end this system which is a tax on hope for creative workers.
• Cementing your tax status: Since 2016, performers and stage management have lived in limbo over their status. Those members were previously clealry described in regulations as workers in employment law, but the Coalition government dropped them and created chaos. Whether it be a lack of clarity about your employment status, or denials of maternity, paternity, and sick pay, this unclear situation has to be reversed – especially with the Labour government pledging further major reforms to employment law. Freelance for tax and national insurance, but employed for employment law, must be supported by HMRC in most work for performers and stage management.
• A political fund: Equity is an unusual union for not having a political fund. We can still undertake political work, but can’t fully participate in elections and referenda. In this uncertain world, we need to follow the footsteps of most UK unions, including BECTU and the Musicians Union, as well as Equity in the USA by establishing a political fund. Paul will always oppose affiliation to a political party, now more clearly prohibited by our new rules, but the time to have a full political voice has come.

When Paul was elected, it was his mission to make Equity’s comms louder, prouder, and more beautiful. Media monitoring suggests Equity’s engagement in print and online has increased exponentially, year on year, since Paul was elected – especially on key campaigns like West End pay, artificial intelligence, and artistic censorship.

Equity’s new look magazine delivers the best design in the union movement, over 2/3 of members open our fortnightly email, and use of our new website has increased by tens of thousands of engagements every month. Your Council now gets quarterly reports on comms, giving elected members direct oversight of how we speak and are seen.

Our new Comms Section was established by Paul in 2021, and has delivered significant increases in engagement, as well as saving in production through a skilled in-house team. Our new branding is easy to use and engage with, and has encouraged grassroots, high quality content from activists across branches and committees.

We’ve never looked or sounded better – but the next step is to make Equity louder.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Members as the face of our comms: The General Secretary is the chief spokesperson for Equity under our rules, but the working lives of our members sound best coming from them. We should see more Equity members speaking out as members – both on reporting about our campaigns, but also incidentally in the course of their work. We need to use Equity activists own social media better, especially TikTok, to reach fellow members with organic content from you.
• More video content: Equity members work in movement and sound. So should our comms. Reflecting our members skills through more stories on our social media, and in the mainstream, must be the next phase of our comms strategy.
• More targeted comms: Equity is the union for theatre directors. Equity is the union for supporting artists. Equity is the union for stage management. Equity is the union for tribute acts. Our comms should feel like every member has a place, with information in language they identify with – as well as being united with every member in the struggles the face.

Equity’s governance has been radically changed since 2020. Our new rulebook, implemented in 2022 was passed by record turnout and record approval. It’s 40% shorter than its predecessor, which wasn’t revised as a whole for over 30 years. The number of branches has grown every year since 2023, and now every member has a branch to call home, up from just 30% in 2020.

Our Councils are more representative than ever. Both the 2022 and 2024 Councils had a majority of women, 40% under 40, and record levels of representation from global majority artists, and disabled members. We have a Women’s Councillor and a second councillor for members in the North. This is a product of better functioning, healthier democracy, rooted in members workplaces.

As secretary to the Council, Paul has made it more accessible. Hybrid meetings lasting a half day rather than a whole day have been key to boosting attendance, and making the paperwork more less impenetrable. We’ve put equalities on a level footing with our industrial work, and opened a space for councillors to bring their own papers, based on the demands they hear from members. Instead of monthly reactions to events, we have quarterly agenda items to deal with trends, not just moments, and they have transparent annual reviews of staffing, distributions, and internal equalities progress for the first time.

Our 2024 conference was the best attended in Equity’s history. We’ve moved it from a London-centric event to one which travels to a different nation or region every year. It’s also been reinvigorated with new purpose: direct action against cuts at Phoenix Dance in Leeds, rallies for LGBTQ+ venues in London, an international reception with sister unions from around the world in Birmingham.

Our branches have been reformed, and made open to all. Their funding has moved from 32p per branch member beyond Paul’s 2020 pledge of £1 per member to a £500 cap. Now all branches receive £750 a year to spend as they like, and £1,500 in London. The union covers more than ever – not just room hire but quality hybrid facilities as well.

Paul was determined to tackle unacceptable behaviour within the union, and new complaints and disciplinary procedures have uncovered and handled legitimate concerns to build a union accountable to its members, and inclusive for all. Replacing an adversarial system, where the responsibility lay with the complainant member, now the union progresses concerns without fear or favour.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• Stability and progress: With every area of the union’s democracy reviewed and reformed since 2020, it’s critical we have time for it to grow. Diligent monitoring of inclusivity, attendance, and activity is required between now and 2030 to ensure our structural changes deliver what our members expect.
• Branch growth: The number of Equity branches has grown each year since 2023. Now we need to focus on outcomes. Better training for committee members, spaces for shared best practice, buddying schemes, and a direct connexion to our union campaigns are the next stage of this grassroots-focussed plan
• Ending the divide between democracy and workplace: Equity’s members in work have historically been rarely the ones on Council, committees, and branches. That’s changing, with the expectation of record numbers of candidates for this year’s committee elections. However, those are the members we must target by making committees, conference, branches, and Council relevant and connected to their concerns.

Equity faced an unprecedented membership crisis during the COVID pandemic just as Paul was elected. But through that uncertainty, Paul kept most subscriptions below inflation for four years, and stewarded membership to record levels. Equity now has more members than at any point in our 95 year history.

Benefits have dramatically improved – including a new insurance package which doubles payouts for accident and injury, dramatically improves is scope, and ends all top-ups, meaning all insurances are available to every member in their subscriptions.

We’ve removed all commission on payments from the Equity distribution service, and created a more transparent and fair scale of subscription payments. In 2020 there were well over 100 different rates paid by members (some amounts by only one or two). Now, there are five basic rates, and two subsidised rates for all. Most importantly, the lowest subscription rate has been expanded from those earning £12k or less to £40k or less, making it available to more members pressed for cash. Council now sets these rates, meaning accountability for members on what they pay – but also stability to plan in line with long term expenditure.

Paul also ensured the end of the ‘long service membership’, and instead provided a discounted rate for all members over 67. The old system required 25 years of continuous service for those over 65, which disproportionately affected women. Student members and retired members were also given full democratic rights, insurances, and industrial benefits – equality for all members in all workplaces, at every point in their career.

With contractions in performing arts courses, reduced TV and film production, and the closure of venues, membership faces lots of challenges in the next five years. As our primary source of income, and our sole source of power, it’s important to have the right plan to keep Equity strong, and independent.

For the next five years, Paul pledges:

• To advise Council to keep subscriptions as low as possible: Subscriptions are frozen in 2026, following this year’s rise which pays for our enhanced insurance package. Rises will happen, but Equity’s subscriptions remain the lowest of any of the entertainment unions, and lower than most unions across the economy. It should stay that way.
• To survey members and keep benefits relevant: Our new insurance package marks the first time since 2013 there has been a significant shift in the benefits we offer. That can’t happen again, and your voice in what matters in your subscription is paramount.
• To launch targeted recruitment campaigns: Our membership is only sustainable if we reach those who don’t know about us. Beneficiaries of the distribution service, variety artists who need our insurances, creative team members unfamiliar with our breadth – we need to reach out and connect with them as innovatively as possible to grow our power.
• An independent trades union: Paul has inherited an incredible legacy from previous General Secretaries, and Councils, of ensuring Equity is financial independent and so does not have to consider a merger with a larger union. That’s less likely than ever before, but Paul pledges we’ll keep our independence through solid financial management, and proper membership planning.